Improved appaeatus foe amalgamating gold and silver oees



L. E. RIVOT.

APPARATUS FOR AMALGAMATING GOLD AND SILVER ORES.

No. 73,839. Patented Jan. 28, 1868.

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LOUIS EDOUARD RIVOT, OF PARIS, FRANCE, AS SIGNOR TO JACQUES GAILLARDON,OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Letters Patent No. 73,839, dated January 28, 1868.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR A MALGAMATIN G GOLD AND SILVER ORES.

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TO WHOM IT MAY eononnn:

Be it known that I, LOUIS EDOUARD RIVOT, of Paris, in the Empire ofFrance, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Methodof and Means for Treating Auriferous and Argentiferous Ores; and Ihereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings. i

The present invention relates to an apparatus which may beused-independently of the treatment to which argentiferous andauriferous ores are submitted, previous to the action thereon of themercury. It is applicable to ore, whether treated by the methods now inuse, or by the method for which Letters Patent of the United States wereissued to me on the 31st of May, 1864, No. 42,997. The apparatus inquestion is represented in the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is atop view, and v Figure 2 is asectional elevation on line 1 2, fig. 1.

The object sought to be attained by this invention is to bring all thegrains of the ore into intimate and prolonged contact with the mercury,and this I accomplish by putting the ore with the mercury into theannular bed M, whose bottom is horizontal, and by causing to revolvetherein, with more or less speed, vertical grinding-wheels or cylinders,R It R R, which are united by means of arms to a vertical shaft, S.Movement is imparted to the shaft by means of bevelled-gear wheels T,placed below the bed. This gear may be located, if convenient, above theapparatus, in which case the shaft should be longer, which is, however,always an objection. Upon the same shaft are mounted four arms, a b a(Z, which carry scrapers or knives, A B, and rakes, C D. The function ofthese knives is to bring to and undeiythe wheels the matter which iscarried into the angle of the angular bed, and the rakes serve to divideand separate from the bed the material compressed by the wheels.

The dimensions indicated in the accompanying drawings are those of anamalgamator for working three tons of ore at one time; they should bemodified for apparatus which work larger or smaller quantities ofore.The apparatus shown is composed of four vertical wheels, two' pairs ofknives, and two rakes, for such, in my opinion, is the best arrangementfor apparatus of the dimensions shown in the drawings. But I wish it tobe expressly understood that the same result may be attained with two orthree wheels, a single pair of knives, and but one rake. I

The vertical shaft S is supported at its lower extremity in a suitablebearing, while higher up it is held in an annular bearing, which ismaintained in proper position by means of a framework, as shown in fig.2. The large bevelled-gear wheel T meshes with the pinion F, which ismounted on the arbor that receives rotarymotion from some prime-mover.The relative size of the diameters of the two wheels must depend uponwhich move ment fromthe prime-mover is to be transmitted to the verticalshaft. The speed of revolution of the vertical arbor S should vary fromone to four or more revolutions per minute. The resistance which thisarbor has to overcome being considerable, it is desirable to give thegear-wheel Ta very large diameter, and to make the teeth of greatsolidity. I The vertical arbor is of a rectangular section at its upperpart, and carries a double cluster of sockets, G H, in which are securedthe arms ab 0 def the knives and rakes, and the arms ofthe four verticalwheels. The arms of the knives and rakes are immovably fixed in theirsockets, and are united one with anothezyby means of rods, so as toprevent the arms from bending. The arms of the four vertical wheels aresomewhat differently secured in their sockets. i v v Qn reference tofig. 2, it will be seen that, in order that the, wheels may roll overmatter of variable thick ness, the arms are capable of a slightup-and-down play. The strain of the socket upon the arms, and of thearms upon the wheels, being considerable, these pieces should be made ofgreat strength. The arms are united one to the other by means of rods,which will prevent the fiexure of the arms, while allowing their np-anddown play. i

The four wheels are cylindrical, and are like one another. Their felloesare twenty-five centimetres in length and two metres in diameter, andthey are united to the hub by means of spokes, as those of a cart-wheel,or otherwise. They may be made of wood or, iron, or of combined wood andiron; they may also be made of wood and iron, with an iron rim, theessential point being that they should be cylindrical and of lightweight, say one thousand kilogrammes per wheel. In'their movement aroundthe shaft S the wheels should revolve in different tracks. The distancesfrom the inner edges of the wheels to the inner circle of the bed arerespectively 0. 15, .0. 40, O. 65, 0*. 90. The wheel which is mostdistant from the vertical shaft S,is yet far enough from the exteriorcircle of .the bed to allow the matter carried along with the wheel todrop within the bed, and notoutside of it. The knives A B are made ofsheet or cast metal, and their connection with the arms a e is shownsutliciently in fig. 2. I A

The rakes C D are similarly connected with their arms. Eachrake carriesfrom twelve to fourteen cuttingteeth, which are fixed to a somewhatinclined sheet-iron blade, which scrapes the bottom of the beds. Thefunctions of these rakes are to divide up the matter rendered compact bythe pressure over it of the vertical wheels. i I

The bed is composed of a horizontal annular floor, provided on theinterior and exterior with flanges. It is supported by solid masonry,which is levelled with great care. The sole or bottom of the bed isformed of thick cast-iron plates. The lines of the joints radiate from acommon centre, which is the axis of the shaft S. The plates formlap-joints, and are set closely together,so that the finest particlescannot pass between the plates. 7 The surface of the sole should besmooth, so that the knives 'and rakes will encounter no obstacles intheir rotary movement. The interior flange may be of cast'or sheet iron;it rests against the masonry, and is united with the bottom plates by agroove-and-tcnon joint. The outer,flang'e, which is about fortycentimetres in height, is formed of cast-iron plates, united together bybolts passing through ears cast on the outside, and they form agroove-and-tenon joint with the bottom plates, as shown in fig. 2.Moreover, an iron band or hoop on the outside eomplctes'the joint. Thehoopmay be compbsed of several sections, whose tension can be varied bymeans of screws and nuts. At one side the exterior flange is providedwith a door, P, which slides in grooves. The door is supported by meansof a frame, which also holds in place the sheet Q, which latter maybemade of sheet or cast iron, and is inclined at an angle of about fifteenor twenty degrees.

The mass is removed from the amalgamating-bed, thoroughly mixed withwater, and is dropped into the wooden receiver R, which is provided witha faucet at its lower end. The bottom of this receiver is inclinedtowards the faucet. The water which carries with it the. divided massissues from, the receiver through the wooden channel U, by which it iscarried to apparatus destined to collect the last particles of mercury.The

receiver R is cl'osed'by means of a cover, which is provided with anopening surrounded with fiangcs u. These flanges prevent any of thematter being thrown out in descending through the chute.

The mode of operation is necessarily varied with the process which isadopted for the treatment of the ore. .I shall confine myself to thedescription of the amalgamating, by mercury alone, of ore previouslyroasted by means of superheated steam. Two cases may occur: first, whenthe ore is brought to the anialgamator in the state in which it comesout from the furnace, that is, dry; second, when it becomes necessary totreat the ore roasted with superheated steam by means of water, in whichcase the ore is wet.

I. To amalgamate the dry ore, the operation is divided intothree'stages.

First stage. The sole of the annular bed is charged with such quantityof ore as can be convcnientlyamalgamatcd at one operation, with aquantity of mercury, say from thirty to forty parts of mercury to onepart of gold or silver. The thickness of the layer of ore is from ten tofifteen centimetres. It is well, in charging the mercury, to disseminateit. The charge being completed, the wheelsarc put in motion, by givingthem a speed of'one or two revolutions per minute. It will be 'casy tojudge if the proper speed of revolution is obtained, by inspecting themercury at the expiration of about two hours. The mercury at this timeshould be so divided that its globules can no longer be distinguished.When the mercury is reduced to an impalpable state, and thusdisseminated through the mass of the ore, the wheels are revolved foranother two hours. Thus the first stage generally lasts four hours. I I

Second stage. Water is poured on the mass in fine streams by means of arose, or otherwise, without stopping the wheels, which,however, arerevolved but slowly. To ascertain when sufiicient'water has been added,the following indications are to be observed: The mass being a liquidpaste, the mercury appears in small brilliant I globules, but stillremaining divided. With a larger or smaller quantity of water. themercury would agglomerate and form large globules or masses; Experience,however, will soon teach the quantity of water to be added and the speedwith which the wheels should revolve for each particular kind of ore.When the requisite quantity of water has been added, the wheels arerevolved from seven to eight hours, and water may be added from time totime, to retain the mass at the proper degree of consistency.

Third stage. When the amalgamation of the precious metal is completed,the mercury is to be gathered, and the gold andflsilver amalgams whichhave been formed are to be dissolved by it. There is introduced into thebed a quantity of water, suificicnt to reduce the mass to a very liquidconsistency; the wheels are then revolved very slowly for about threehours. During the discharging, the wheels are slowly revolved, andthe'door]? is slightly raised, so that the mass may run out slowly intothe receiver R, and thence into the conduit U. The whole mass is made topass through the receiver, and all the parts of the amalgamator arethoroughly cleaned by water. proj cctedinto it. When'the washingof theapparatus is completed, the door is replaced, and the apparatus is readyfor a new operation. -Thc greater part of the mercury holding theamalgam in solution is collected in the receiver with a certainquantityof ore and water. At first the mercury is drawn off by openingthefaucet, and is received into any suitable vessel, then, through thesame faucet, the water and ore are let out and put in with the masswhichpassed out through the conduit U.

H. The wet ore. It is sometimes necessary to wash the ore, roasted bymeans of superheated stcam,-before submitting it to the action ofmercury. In such cases the operation comprises the two last stages only.The

first stage, which may be called the dry tritnration, is dispensed with,but it is necessary to increase the duration of the second stage to nineor ten hours. The mercury is divided somewhat more slowly than in thedrymalga-mating process, but this diliiculty is compensated by thelonger duration of the action of in the presence of water. Otherwise theoperation is conducted in the same manner as hereinbefor Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is- The herein-described method of and apparatus foramalgcmating auriferous nncl urgcntif'erous ores. In testimony whereof,I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribingwitnesses.

the mercury e indicated.

L. E. RIVOT. Witnesses:

E4 RICHARDS, J. GAILLARDON

